Jeongwon (Claire) An

South Korean violinist Jeongwon (Claire) An is a versatile violinist experienced in solo, chamber, and orchestra settings who joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2023 as a member of the first violin section.

As a chamber music enthusiast, Jeongwon is a founding member of Trio Menil, the Grand Prize and Odyssey Chamber Music Series Award winner of the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, First Prizewinner of the 2024 Concurso-Festival de Música de Cámara “Diálogo”, and a finalist in the 2024 Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition. Jeongwon is also a recipient of the Peter Salaff Prize in Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, and feels grateful to have performed the U.S. premiere of Yevhen Stankovych’s “Almost Serenade” for Two Violins in recital with Oleh Krysa, and shared the stage with Jon Kimura Parker, James Dunham, and Norman Fischer.

She was invited to participate in numerous international festivals including Mozarteum Sommerakademie, IMS Prussia Cove, Aspen Music Festival, and New York String Orchestra Seminar (NYSOS), and in concert venues like the Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, LOTTE Concert Hall, and various halls in Asia.

A recipient of Korean Embassy’s Korean Honor Scholarship, Eastman School of Music’s George Eastman Circle, Shepherd School of Music’s Georgene and Walter Sickles Memorial Award, Young Musician Foundation’s Davis Weiss Memorial, and Hennings-Fischer Foundation’s Nick Koutouratsas Memorial Scholarships, Jeongwon has performed as a soloist with La Mirada, Symphony S.O.N.G, CalState LA Symphony, Hong Kong Children’s Symphony and Beverly Hills International Festival Orchestras. She also performed as an acting concertmaster of Symphony S.O.N.G. (Seoul, South Korea), and as a substitute violinist in the Minnesota Orchestra.

She has given world premiere performances of Masatoshi Mitsumoto’s “Concertino for Violin and Orchestra” (2020, CalState LA Symphony / Olympia Youth Orchestra), Michael Daugherty’s “The Old Man and the Sea” Piano Trio (2016, MTAC’s Friend of Today’s Music Program), and Nicky Sohn’s “Rodeo” (2024, Trio Menil with support from Houston Arts Alliance).

An advocate for community outreach, Jeongwon was a member of DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program in 2022-2023, a fellowship program for emerging professional instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers that serves the Houston community. She also served as a mentor of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), LA Philharmonic’s El Sistema music education program. She was invited to teach guest masterclass at Stephen F. Austin State University and American Festival of the Arts (AFA) Houston, is currently on faculty at the Hochstein School as a chamber music coach and co-director of the Strings & Piano Chamber Music Connections camp, and maintains a private violin studio.

Jeongwon has studied and worked with inspiring master musicians such as Pierre Amoyal, Steven Doane, James Dunham, Anthony Marwood, Donald Weilerstein, and Kathleen Winkler, and will always be a student of her loving mentors, Fung Ho, Paul Kantor, and Oleh Krysa. She holds her degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Shepherd School of Music, and is currently playing on a 1703 G.B. Rogeri violin, generously on loan from the Maestro Foundation.